The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan is hoping pay-or-stay sentences will end in Michigan after the state Supreme Court amended rules for courts throughout the state, prohibiting a judge from sentencing a person to jail for nonpayment without first determining if he or she can afford to pay.

“For too long, there has been a two-tier system of justice in Michigan,” said Miriam Aukerman, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan. “The court rules are on the bench. (Judges) have access to them, practical guidance. This is a really critical step towards widespread compliance across the state.”

The court rules, which take effect Sept. 1, call for a judge to determine whether a person can pay. If a court finds that a person lacks the ability to pay fees or fines, it can set up a payment plan or waive part or all of what the person owes, the ACLU said in a news release.

Under the amended rules, courts must consider criteria including the person’s employment history, earning ability and living expenses.

“It’s important to recognize people often have a lot of different obligations,” Aukerman said, adding that people may have children to support, rent to pay and food to buy.

John Nevin, communications director for the Michigan Supreme Court, said there are lots of resources for judges, including payment calculators.

“The judges were asking for guidance. This should make things more smoothly,” he said. “The judges should be doing these things anyway. It’s a constitutional protection.”

Nevin said the new court rules came after a public comment period that began last year. .

Aukerman said the ACLU will monitor that the new court rules are being implemented and encourages anyone continuing to face this problem to contact the organization. She said the change in the court rules also could have “significant implications for county budgets” and taxpayers with a reduction in local jail populations.

The ACLU has been pushing for criminal-justice reform to end debtors prisons. It challenged 38th District Court in Eastpointe and Judge Carl Gerds last year in Macomb County Circuit Court for jailing defendants because they could not pay court fines and fees. Earlier this year, Macomb County Circuit Court said Gerds would have to halt pay-or-stay sentencing.

The ACLU challenged Gerds by filing a lawsuit on behalf of a woman facing jail time because she failed to license her dogs and failed to appear in court. The woman, a single mother of two young children who receives government assistance, was unable to pay the $455 in fines Gerds ordered. In court filings, Gerds' attorney said Gerds was never going to send the woman to jail; the attorney also has said Gerds was following court rules.

In a separate matter, the ACLU asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate conditions at the Macomb County Jail — especially the treatment of mentally ill and chronically dependent inmates — and pay-or-stay sentences after the 2014 death of David Stojcevski, 32, who died from prescription medication withdrawal after more than two weeks in the lockup.

Stojcevski was sent to the jail after he failed to pay $772 in fines ordered by a different judge after failing to appear on a traffic ticket in Roseville District Court.

Aukerman said the ACLU has not received a formal response from the Department of Justice.